2016 Chevrolet Cruze, Malibu Ad Inspired by Horror Films

DETROIT— The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze and Malibu take their place alongside eerie mansions, creaking doors and spooky apparitions in a new advertisement directed by horror-film master Sam Raimi.

The 60-second spot, inspired by the typical pre-release trailers for scary movies, will run in 2,300 theaters nationwide over the next six months, highlighting the latest active safety technologies available in the all-new Cruze and Malibu.

In the trailer, the heroine wanders through a creepy old house being subjected to some familiar horror-movie tropes — screams, pulsing music, fleeting images of ghostly figures — before coming to a closed door, which she's tempted to open.

She's warned by "audience members" shouting for her to stop, watch out for the monster and get out of there.

As she turns to run, the ad ends with the tagline: Wouldn't it be nice to have a warning before bad things happen?

"We approached the development of the Chevrolet trailer in the same way we would an actual movie — by thinking through the plot, characters and eventual outcome," said Raimi, famous for his "Evil Dead" series, in a statement. "I've been in plenty of theatres where the audience is so concerned for the safety of the main characters that they call out warnings to save them. That's what this is based on."

The idea is that the new Cruze and Malibu can provide an early warning with available safety features like Front Pedestrian Alert, Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Side Blind-Zone Alert and Adaptive Cruise Control with Automatic Braking.

"We continue to look for unexpected, attention-grabbing ways to tell our story," said Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet Marketing. "With this trailer, we have thrown a twist into that quintessential, edge-of-your seat horror movie moment to highlight the comprehensive suite of available active safety technologies in our new Malibu and Cruze."